Timberwolves crush Grizzlies, lose Anthony Edwards: 'Hopefully we can get him back right'

Edwards's right hip pointer "flared up" in the first quarter.
Timberwolves crush Grizzlies, lose Anthony Edwards: 'Hopefully we can get him back right'
Timberwolves crush Grizzlies, lose Anthony Edwards: 'Hopefully we can get him back right' /

Seven Timberwolves scored in double figures and one of them wasn't Anthony Edwards Friday night in Memphis. Edwards, the 22-year-old budding superstar, played just 3 minutes, 43 seconds before his right hip injury knocked him out of the game. 

Without Edwards, the Timberwolves used a balanced effort to destroy the Ja Morant-less Grizzlies, running away with a 127-103 victory – Minnesota's sixth straight and their NBA-leading 17th of the season. 

At 17-4, they own the best record in the league and with Denver's game still in progress Friday night they were 3 1/2 games clear of every team in the Western Conference. 

Edwards left the game in the first quarter after driving towards the basket and coming up lame. He grabbed at his right hip and signaled to the bench for a sub. 

"It kind of flared up on him, so hopefully we can get him back right," head coach Chris Finch said afterward. 

Edwards suffered the right hip pointer on Nov. 28 against the Thunder. He was held out of two games and returned to play 37 minutes in a win over the Spurs on Wednesday. There were moments in the game where Edwards appeared to be bothered by his hip, though he said afterward that it eventually loosened up. 

Without Edwards, Troy Brown Jr. played 30 minutes and finished with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists. But the star of the game was Rudy Gobert, who posted a second straight 20-rebound game, finishing with 16 points, 20 rebounds and a season-high six blocks. 

Everyone had a good night, really. 

  • Karl-Anthony Towns: 24 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
  • Nickeil Alexander-Walker: 14 points, 4-of-8 from 3
  • Mike Conley: 19 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists
  • Kyle Anderson: 7 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists
  • Naz Reid: 10 points, 9 rebounds
  • Shake Milton: 17 points, 3-of-5 from 3

Up next: Timberwolves vs. Pelicans, Monday at 7 p.m. CT. 

Shake Milton
Dec 8, 2023; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard-forward Shake Milton (18) drives to the basket as Memphis Grizzlies guard Jaylen Nowell (24) defends during the first half at FedExForum / Credit: Petre Thomas-USA TODAY Sports

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Joe Nelson
JOE NELSON

Title: Bring Me The Sports co-owner, editor Email: joe@bringmethenews.com Twitter: @JoeBMTN Education: Southwest Minnesota State University Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota Expertise: All things Minnesota sports Nelson has covered Minnesota sports for two decades, starting his media career in sports radio. He worked at small market Minnesota stations in Marshall and St. Cloud before joining one of the nation's highest-rated sports stations, KFAN-FM 100.3 in the Twin Cities. There, he was the producer of the top-rated mid-morning sports show with Minnesota Vikings announcer Paul Allen.  His radio experience helped blossom a career as a sports writer, joining Minneapolis-based Bring Me The News in 2011.  Nelson and Adam Uren became co-owners of Bring Me The News in 2018 and have since more than tripled the site's traffic and launched Bring Me The Sports in cooperation with the Sports Illustrated/FanNation umbrella. Nelson has covered the Super Bowl and numerous training camps, NFL combines, the MLB All-Star Game and Minnesota playoff games, in addition to the day-to-day happenings on and off the field of play.  Nelson also has extensive knowledge of non-sports subjects, including news and weather. He works closely with Bring Me The News meteorologist Sven Sundgaard to produce a bevy of weather and climate information for Minnesota readers.  Nelson helped launch and manage the Bring Me The News Radio Network, which provided more than 50 radio stations around Minnesota with daily news, sports and weather reports from 2011-17.